GANESH CHATURTHI / DIWALI SPECIAL!! Just writing that has made me so happy and hyper that I can't wait for festival season to start so we can invite all our friends for feasting on the faraal (festival snacks).

For Ganesh Chaturthi, these sweetmeats are always made fresh, ON the day of the festival. It's an absolute joy, to wake up early morning on Ganesh Chaturthi day, take a bath, wear new clothes and get working in the kitchen with all the prayers playing in the background from pendals in different directions.

During Diwali, one doesn't have so much time in the morning to make these fresh, as there are a few pujas happening that day, and everyone is eagerly waiting to burst a lot of fire crackers. So, the week before diwali is a major cooking spree time! All the families make their special mix of festival snacks and are shared with the other family members and friends.

This is one of the festival specials; a nice crunchy, crispy shell, with a coconut and dry fruits stuffing. It has an amazing combination of flavours as the outside is slightly salty, where as the stuffing is a beautifully caramelized cardamom and saffron flavoured coconut with a rich taste from crushed dry fruits.

As kids, we have always enjoyed making all these special snacks! My sister and I would be the cheapest and the most efficient labour, with the best of incentives - feasting on the freshly cooked sweetmeats. My mom, elder sister and me, worked as a human conveyer belt for all these cooking sessions. My sister would get the more responsible job of rolling out the shell and passing it to me for a much mediocre next level since I was still a kid AND would love to taste and re-taste a spoonful of the stuffing every time without being caught! Then next, I would place the stuffing in the centre, close and seal the shell and pass it to my mom, for its final stage of frying, and voilà! The final result would be as delicious as ever and the best time of the festival!